The Commentariat -- June 20, 2016

Afternoon Update (see also links marked "NEW" below):

Jonathan Chait reports on the state of Trump's campaign, which Chait characterizes as "a garbage fire." -- CW ...

... Scott Lemieux, in LG&M, has more, and it's fairly hilarious. -- CW ...

... Laura Clawson of Daily Kos on Lewandowski's firing: "... whoever's left on the campaign should maybe have considered that you don't deliver classic 'Friday news dump' material like this on a Monday morning." -- CW

Ben White of Politico: "Big Wall Street donors have a message for Hillary Clinton: Keep Elizabeth Warren off the ticket or risk losing millions of dollars in contributions." -- CW

** Making America Poor Again. Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Donald Trump's presidency would 'significantly' weaken the country, driving the U.S. into a 'lengthy recession' with nearly 3.5 million job losses and a 7 percent unemployment rate, according to a Moody's analysis released Monday."

Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will take up a case exploring when immigrants detained solely for immigration violations have the right to be released from jail. The justices agreed to consider a federal appeals court decision that essentially found detained immigrants were entitled to a bond hearing after six months in custody and every six months thereafter." -- CW

*****

NEW. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear a Second Amendment challenge to a Connecticut law banning many semiautomatic rifles. The law, enacted in 2013 in the wake of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., made it a crime to sell or possess the firearms, which critics call assault weapons. The decision ... is part of a trend in which the justices have given at least tacit approval to broad gun-control laws in states and localities that choose to enact them." -- CW

NEW. AP: "The Supreme Court says the Labor Department must do a better job of explaining why it is changing a longstanding policy on whether certain workers deserve overtime pay. The justices on Monday asked a lower court to take another look at whether federal law allows the agency to require overtime pay for people working as service advisers at auto dealerships. The 6-2 ruling comes in a case involving a California auto dealer that claims its service advisers are similar to car salesmen or mechanics, who are exempt from overtime requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act." Per ScotusBlog, the dissenters were Thomas & Alito. -- CW

Be Still, My Heart. Paul Bedard of the Washington Examiner: "Justice Clarence Thomas ... is mulling retirement after the presidential election, according to court watchers." CW: No longer able to get away with "What Nino said," apparently Clarence finds having to write his own dissents way too arduous. ...

... digby: "... it sure would be poetic justice if 'The Roberts Court' ended up with Roberts and Alito huddled in their own little corner as the last remnants of the Reagan Revolution." CW ...

... BUT. Scott Lemieux, in LG&M, with a Reality Chek: "... unnamed 'court watchers,' 'mulling' retirement, suggestions that he would like to retire to do something the job allows him to do anyway ... let's just say that barring force majeure if the next president nominates Thomas's replacement I'll be shocked." -- CW

Washington Post Editors: "Having turned what could have been a wholly reasonable investigation of IRS carelessness into a partisan scandal hunt, the most concrete result from [Republican Congressional] inquiries may end up being a gratuitous attack on a longtime public servant." -- CW

Jenny Rowland in ThinkProgress: "Democrats from the House committees on Natural Resources and Homeland Security this week held a joint forum that focused on the steps that need to be taken to confront violent extremism on America's public lands. The forum comes five months after Ammon Bundy and a group of anti-government extremists took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon.... Panelists and members of Congress alike expressed disappointment in the issue's lack of bipartisan attention." --safari

Alana Semuels of The Atlantic: "Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-WI) is introducing the Top 1% Accountability Act of 2016, which would require drug testing for all tax filers claiming itemized deductions totaling over $150,000.... The number of government tests and requirements for poor people receiving government aid has grown in recent years.... According to one report, more than 95 percent of tax filers making over $200,000 itemized their deductions in 2011, compared to just 13 percent of those with incomes of $50,000 or less.... The government spent $17 billion in Temporary Aid to Needy Families (commonly known as welfare) in 2013. The mortgage-interest and real-estate tax deductions cost the government $98 billion in 2013, according to CFED." --safari

Profiting from Fear. Evan Osnos of the New Yorker: "More American civilians have died by gunfire in the past decade than all the Americans who were killed in combat in the Second World War.... The story of how millions of Americans discovered the urge to carry weapons to join, in effect, a self-appointed, well-armed, lightly trained militia -- begins not in the Old West but in the nineteen-seventies.... In 1977, more than half of all American households had a gun in the house. By 2014, it was less than a third. Each gun owner now has an average of eight guns.... Much as the industry capitalized on the Los Angeles riots, it has excelled, since 9/11, at tapping into the fear of terrorism." A long read. --safari ...

... NEW. AP: "The FBI says that the Orlando nightclub shooter was not directed by a foreign terror group, but was radicalized domestically. At a news conference Monday morning, Ron Hopper of the FBI also said that in 911 calls, shooter Omar Mateen described his actions to an operator in a 'chilling, calm and deliberate manner.'" -- CW

... Emily Schultheis of CBS News: "National Rifle Association President Wayne LaPierre said Sunday that gun control legislation would not be effective in stopping mass shootings in the United States.... LaPierre ... sa[id] President Obama and other Democrats are trying to blame guns for the shooting in Orlando to deflect from their 'failure' to effectively combat terrorism." CW: Right. Because there's no possible way to write legislation that would stop a guy from walking into a gun store & buying assault weapons & ammo. ...

...Asawin Suebsaeng of The Daily Beast: "For years, the editorial page that has most fervently favored stricter gun control in America hasn't been found in The New York Times, The Washington Post, or The Boston Globe. It's been on the pages of The Onion, America's leading news-satire organization.... The horror of the past week has led Wired magazine to declare that 'only The Onion can save us now,' and for Bustle to write that the 'Orlando shooting makes this Onion article more relevant than ever.'" --safari

... Quinn Owen of ABC News: "The NRA's top lobbyist said no one should go into a nightclub 'drinking and carrying firearms' when asked about Donald Trump's comments about whether armed club-goers may have prevented the Orlando nightclub shooting, and NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre echoed those remarks in a separate interview. At a rally on Friday, the presumptive Republican nominee said the massacre would have been prevented if some of the victims had been armed." -- CW ...

... CBS New York: "Appearing on 'Face the Nation' Sunday, National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre blamed a 'politically correct' federal government for the fact that the Orlando nightclub massacre gunman was taken off an FBI watch list." -- CW ...

... D'Angelo Gore of FactCheck.org (June 16): "Donald Trump said there were 'no guns on the other side' in the mass shooting in Orlando and there would've been fewer deaths 'if the bullets were going in the other direction, aimed at the guy who was just in open target practice.' But ... Adam Gruler, an Orlando police officer working security for Pulse nightclub that night, traded gunshots with the gunman, Omar Mateen, near the club's entrance.... In addition, news reports said that two of the responding officers, who were nearby and arrived at the scene not long after, also fired at Mateen before he retreated to a club bathroom with hostages." -- CW

Presidential Race

Shane Harris of The Daily Beast: "The saga of [Hillary] Clinton's email has become the candidate's biggest single point of vulnerability, and the question of whether she might be indicted in the affair is her own sword of Damocles. While criminal charges seem less likely by the day, Judicial Watch, which has pursued Clinton and her husband in court for years,has guaranteed that the political threat of the email issue won't subside...Since its founding in 1994, his group has filed suits against every presidential administration. But in Hillary Clinton, Fitton may have found his white whale." --safari

Daniel Strauss of Politico: "Bernie Sanders is on a crash course with the Congressional Black Caucus. In a letter sent to both the Sanders and Hillary Clinton campaigns, the CBC is expressing its resolute opposition to two key reforms demanded by Sanders in the run-up to the Democratic convention: abolishing the party's superdelegate system and opening Democratic primaries up to independents and Republicans." -- CW ...

... Seema Mehta of the Los Angeles Times: "The California Democratic Party on Sunday called for a broad overhaul of how the party nominates its presidential candidates, including the elimination of caucuses and most super-delegates." -- CW

Yamiche Alcindor of the New York Times: A "gathering this weekend, which was called 'The People's Summit...,' drew thousands of people to McCormick Place, a large conference center in Chicago.... The event, which was organized by National Nurses United, a labor union that campaigned heavily for [Bernie] Sanders, featured discussions about how to encourage like-minded people to run for local offices and to push groups to work together on issues like racial justice, income inequality and electoral changes. One session included discussion of protest methods, using mock sit-ins and arrests, for the Democratic National Convention next month in Philadelphia." -- CW

** NEW. "You're Fired!" Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump has fired his contentious campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, a move that comes as the presumptive Republican nominee faces challenges as he heads into the general election." CW: In a statement. Mr. Lewandowski said he was parting ways with the Trump campaign in order to spend more time with skinheads, white supremacists and armed insurrectionists. A spokesman for the International Brotherhood of Male Chauvinist Pigs announced that Mr. Lewandowski had accepted a post on their board of directors.

Jonathan Mahler of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump on Sunday renewed his call for the United States to consider profiling as a preventive tactic against terrorism in the aftermath of the mass shooting last week in Orlando, Fla. 'I hate the concept of profiling, but we have to start using common sense,' Mr. Trump ... said in an interview on CBS's 'Face the Nation.' Mr. Trump issued a similar call in December after the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif...." -- CW

"What ... Trump Learned from Joe McCarthy's Right-Hand Man." Jonathan Mahler & Matt Flegenheimer of the New York Times: "[Roy] Cohn's influence on Mr. Trump is unmistakable. Mr. Trump's wrecking ball of a presidential bid -- the gleeful smearing of his opponents, the embracing of bluster as brand -- has been a Roy Cohn number on a grand scale. Mr. Trump's response to the Orlando massacre, with his ominous warnings of a terrorist attack that could wipe out the country and his conspiratorial suggestions of a Muslim fifth column in the United States, seemed to have been ripped straight out of the Cohn playbook." -- CW

Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Supporters of Donald Trump got an unexpected [... 'emergency' ...] plea on Saturday: a request to send the billionaire money..., representing an urgent need for an infusion of $100,000 to put ads on the air in battleground states. Why Trump couldn't simply write a check to cover the costs apparently wasn't explained, but the missive ... demonstrates clearly the difficult position of the Trump campaign.... Not only are Trump's poll numbers slipping, they are at a low that no one, Republican or Democrat, has seen in the past three election cycles." -- CW ...

... Louis Nelson of Politico: Donald "Trump said in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC's 'Meet the Press' that he can win in November, with or without [Republican leaders'] support. '... It would be nice if the Republicans stuck together,' he said. 'I think that I win either way. I can win one way or the other.'" -- CW ...

... Amber Phillips of the Washington Post: "With a group of Republican delegates working to stop Donald Trump at next month's convention, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) has given no indication that he plans to stop them. 'It's not my job to tell delegates what to do,' Ryan told NBC's Chuck Todd in an interview that aired Sunday on 'Meet the Press.' '... They write the rules. They make their decisions.'" -- CW ...

... Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "Supporters of a growing anti-Donald Trump movement announced plans Sunday to raise money for staff and a possible legal defense fund as they asked new recruits to help spread the word with less than a month until the Republican National Convention." -- CW

The Mind of Donald Trump. Dan P. McAdams in The Altantic: "Narcissism, disagreeableness, grandiosity a psychologist investigates how Trump's extraordinary personality might shape his possible presidency." -- unwashed

Greg Clary of CNN: "Police arrested a 19-year-old man Saturday inside a Las Vegas theater where ... Donald Trump was holding a campaign rally after the man attempted to pull a police officer's gun from its holster during the event. Police said Michael Sandford struck up a conversation with a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officer under the pretenses that he was seeking to get an autograph. During the conversation, police said Sandford tried to pull the officer's service weapon from its holster. Other officers also assigned to provide security at the event were quickly able to detain Sandford...." -- CW

Josh Gerstein & Maggie Severns of Politico: "Lawyers for Donald Trump are fighting claims that his Trump University real estate seminar program amounted to a racketeering operation under federal law. In a court filing Friday night, Trump's attorneys reject allegations in a federal class-action lawsuit that Trump University violated the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and that Trump was directly involved in those violations.... Trump is asking U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel to toss out the lawsuit, which is one of two pending class actions." -- CW

Despite MAG's negativity about MoDo's column on Cap'n. Trump (see yesterday's thread), Yastreblyansky, writing on No More Mister Nice Blog, is ever-so impressed with her abandoning the sinking yacht. -- CW

Paul Krugman: "The Republican establishment was easily overthrown because it was already hollow at the core. Donald Trump's taunts about 'low-energy' Jeb Bush and 'little Marco' Rubio worked because they contained a large element of truth. When Mr. Bush and Mr. Rubio dutifully repeated the usual conservative clichés, you could see that there was no sense of conviction behind their recitations. All it took was the huffing and puffing of a loud-mouthed showman to blow their houses down." Democrats, by contrast, believe what they say.

Beyond the Beltway

Texit. Adios, MoFos. Tom Dart of the Guardian: The Texas Nationalist Movement looks to Brexit for pointers on how to get Texans to vote for secession from the U.S. -- CW

Patrick Brennan & Cameron Knight of the Cincinnati Enquirer: "The owner of a Monroe Township[,Ohio,] gun shop was fatally shot Saturday afternoon when a student in a concealed carry permit class accidentally discharged a weapon, the Clermont County Sheriff's Office said. James Baker, 64, was shot in the neck and pronounced dead just before 1 p.m. at his KayJay Gun Shop..., the sheriff's office said in a news release. He was struck by a bullet that was fired by a class participant while practicing weapon malfunction drills." CW: This freak accident would not have been deadly if Baker had been the owner of the KayJay Smurf Ball Shop. ...

... Peter Holley of the Washington Post: A used-car dealer in Rochester, New Hampshire, is giving away AR-15s with certain auto sales. "The marketing campaign [-- "Buy a car, get an AR" --] was unveiled in May, but it has attracted new scrutiny in the wake of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.... [Owner Mike] Hagan, a combat veteran who served in Afghanistan, told NH1-TV that the gun sale is done in conjunction with a local firearms store that completes the required background checks.... Hagan told the station that the promotion has increased car sales. The Associated Press reported that Hagan has given away four AR-15s and one 9mm handgun, which Hagan also offers if customers decline the rifle." -- CW

Way Beyond

Nicholas Casey of the New York Times: In Venezuela, "a country with the largest oil reserves in the world, it is possible for people to riot because there is not enough food. In the last two weeks alone, more than 50 food riots, protests and mass looting have erupted around the country. Scores of businesses have been stripped bare or destroyed. At least five people have been killed. This is precisely the Venezuela its leaders vowed to prevent." -- CW

News Lede

Cleveland.com: "The Cleveland Cavaliers completed the unimaginable on Sunday night, a 93-89 Game 7 victory over the Golden State Warriors to win the franchise's first NBA championship.... LeBron James has delivered Cleveland's first professional championship in 52 years." -- CW

The Commentariat -- June 19, 2016

Whenever the riffraff of humanity -- e.g., most Republicans -- begins to get me down, along comes some kid like Jack Aiello to remind me that we still have the possibility of a bright future. Thank you, Jack. If you didn't see the clip of his graduation speech, do yourself a favor & watch it. Humor, & even more so, optimism, gives us the space to be better people. -- Constant Weader ...

... AND now, on to today's not-so-uplifting news.

Oliver Milman of the Guardian: "Barack Obama warned on Saturday that climate change could ravage many of America's vaunted national parks, criticizing political opponents who 'pay lip service' to areas of natural beauty while opposing efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions." -- CW

Words from His Father. Rachel Swarns of the New York Times: The Schomburg Center for Research on Black Culture has a small trove of letters written by Barack Obama, Sr. which the President has never seen. Includes some letters. -- CW

Jayme Deerwester of USA Today: "Chelsea Clinton ... announced the arrival of son Aidan Clinton Mezvinsky late Saturday morning on Twitter. Baby Aidan joins big sister Charlotte, who turns 2 on Sept. 26." -- CW

Presidential Race

Sean Sullivan & Jackie Valley of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump voiced annoyance Saturday at continued resistance to his presumptive presidential nomination from some Republicans as he accused former Florida governor Jeb Bush of trying to undermine his candidacy and appeared to take aim at Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.)." -- CW ...

... Kristen East of Politico: "Donald Trump says he isn't worried about delegates organizing against him at the Republican National Convention next month -- but he spent a large part of his rally in Las Vegas on Saturday afternoon insisting that it won't happen. The presumptive Republican nominee, speaking from the Treasure Island hotel and casino, insisted that the story 'is all made up by the press. It's a hoax.'" -- CW

Matt Canham of the Salt Lake Tribune: "Concerned with polls showing Hillary Clinton has a chance to win in one of the most conservative states in the nation, Utah Republican Party Chairman James Evans huddled with Donald Trump in Las Vegas on Saturday. They talked for half an hour shortly before Trump held a packed rally at the Treasure Island casino, and he vowed to campaign in Utah after the national convention in Cleveland in July. 'He's definitely coming back out,' said Evans in an interview after the conversation organized by Trump's son, Don Jr." -- CW

Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times: Donald Trump initiated to two lawsuits directly related to his campaign: two restaurateurs pulled out of the Trump organization's Washington, D.C., Old Post Office project after Trump opened his campaign by denigrating Mexicans. -- CW

Judging Donald. Peter Stone of the Guardian: "Republican and Democratic legal critics tell the Guardian that Trump on several occasions has seemed woefully ignorant of the law, and dismissive of American social conventions. 'My concern is that he lacks respect for basic norms,' said Robert Smith, a former associate judge on the New York court of appeals who was appointed by ex-governor George Pataki, a Republican. 'He's a totally irresponsible egomaniac, and it should be no surprise he pays no attention to the law and other basic social norms.'" -- CW

Tony Romm of Politico: "Apple has told Republican leaders it will not provide funding or other support for the party's 2016 presidential convention, as it's done in the past, citing Donald Trump's controversial comments about women, immigrants and minorities." -- CW

Hope Springs Eternal. Even Maureen Dowd has discovered, at long last, that "Trump's own behavior is casting serious doubt on whether he's qualified to be president." -- CW

Beyond the Beltway

Arelis Hernandez of the Washington Post: "About 200 people blocked the main street in downtown Orlando to form a human chain to counteract the demonstrators from Westboro Baptist Church. A handful of the church's members raised their now iconic anti-gay signs across the street from St. James Catholic Cathedral, while more two dozen police officers stood between them and the rainbow-adorned assembly." -- CW

News Lede

AP: "A jury has convicted a former Vanderbilt football player on all counts after finding that he encouraged his teammates to rape an unconscious woman he had been dating. It took jurors a little more than four hours of deliberation Saturday before finding Brandon Vandenburg guilty on five counts of aggravated rape and two counts of aggravated sexual battery. In addition, he was convicted of one count of unlawful photography." -- CW

The Commentariat -- June 18, 2016

Afternoon Update:

Mark Landler of the New York Times: Secretary of State John Kerry at least partially agrees with a letter signed by 51 U.S. diplomats critical of the Obama administration's handling of Syria. -- CW

Sara Murray of CNN: RNC Chair Reince "Priebus has spoken with GOP party chairmen in multiple states in recent days in part to get a better sense of how large the anti-Trump faction is among their convention delegations, according to two people familiar with the conversations. While Priebus has made clear in these conversations that he is not spearheading the latest push for a coup, his involvement sends a signal that the RNC is taking this effort to dump Trump seriously even as other movements have fizzled." -- CW

Comedian Hasan Minhaj calls out the do-nothing Congress to their face, notably their inaction on gun control, and they're not happy. He starts ridiculing the Congresscritters around 11 minutes in. --safari

*****

David Herszenhorn of the New York Times: "With congressional leaders once again at a stalemate over how to respond to a mass shooting, the Senate's most moderate Republican, Susan Collins of Maine, is developing a compromise measure that would prevent some terrorism suspects from purchasing weapons, while sidestepping partisan flash points that have doomed similar legislation in the past and threaten to do so again next week. The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, has already scheduled votes for Monday on four proposals -- two sponsored by Republicans and two by Democrats -- but all four are expected to fail in a nearly identical replay of votes last December after the attack in San Bernardino, Calif." -- CW...

...Stanley McCrystal in a New York Times op-ed: "A BATTLEFIELD on our soil. That was my reaction on Sunday, like that of so many of my fellow Americans and fellow soldiers, as I began to learn about the horror that unfolded early that morning in Orlando, Fla., when a dangerous man opened fire in a nightclub with a high-powered, military-style rifle...In 2014, 33,599 Americans died from a gunshot wound. From 2001 to 2010, 119,246 Americans were murdered with guns, 18 times all American combat deaths in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That is a national crisis. And as a combat veteran and proud American, I believe we need a national response to the gun violence that threatens so many of our communities." --safari

Nathaniel Popper of the New York Times: "America is getting a new stock exchange from the most prominent critics of high-frequency trading. After months of delays and a brutal lobbying battle that divided Wall Street, the IEX Group won approval on Friday from the Securities and Exchange Commission to become the nation's 13th official stock exchange. IEX is run by the people at the center of the Michael Lewis book, 'Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt,' which profiles the early efforts of the IEX team to create a trading exchange that would be somewhat shielded from high-frequency traders. Other exchanges and trading firms had urged the S.E.C. to reject the IEX application to become an exchange." -- CW

Presidential Race

Move over, Larry David. Eighth-Grader Jack Aiello delivers a graduation speech to remember. (You'll have to pause the video at the end):

Jeff Zeleny of CNN: "Hillary Clinton's campaign is taking the reins of the Democratic National Committee, installing a new top official on Thursday to oversee the party's day-to-day operations through the general election. Brandon Davis,... [of] the Service Employees International Union, will become the general election chief of staff for the Democratic Party.... Robby Mook, the Clinton campaign manager, arrived Thursday morning at Democratic headquarters on Capitol Hill to introduce Davis to the party's staff.... [DNC Chair Debbie] Wasserman Schultz ... will remain in her position as the party's chairwoman, at least through the convention next month in Philadelphia, [but] her role diminishes with the Clinton campaign's takeover of the committee." Thanks to Forrest M. for the link.

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump rarely, if ever, acknowledges he might be losing at anything.... So it was surprising when Mr. Trump ... said on Thursday night that he is not beating Hillary Clinton in the most recent presidential polls.... Despite his historically high negative ratings, Mr. Trump suggested he has plenty of time to turn things around." -- CW

Gail Collins seems a bit skeptical of Donald Trump's claims about the wonderful things he did to help 9/11 responders & victims.

Shane Goldmacher of Politico: "Billionaire businessman Donald Trump appears to have paid zero, or near-zero, in personal income taxes in at least two more years in the early 1990s, according to records from New Jersey's gambling authorities reviewed by Politico. Trump's avoidance of income taxes as described in the documents was not illegal but the result of significant losses his hotel and casino holdings sustained during an economic downtown. 'Welcome to the real estate business,' Trump said in an email, responding via his spokeswoman, when asked about not paying income taxes in the early 1990s.... The Washington Post has previously reported that Trump paid zero in income taxes for two years, in 1978 and 1979, when he turned over his tax returns to apply for a casino license in New Jersey." ....

     ... CW: Don't tell me a billionaire who pays "zero or near-zero taxes" for at least four years is a patriot. He's a moocher, way worse than those lazy bastards lying around in the "hammock of complacency & dependence" who so aggravate Paul Ryan.

Tom Hamburger, et al., of the Washington Post: "Trump's relationship with [Vladimir] Putin and his warm views toward Russia, which began in the 1980s when the country was still part of the Soviet Union, have emerged as one of the more curious aspects of his presidential campaign.... The overwhelming consensus among American political and national security leaders has held that Putin is a pariah who disregards human rights and has violated international norms in seeking to regain influence and territory in the former Soviet bloc.... Trump has conveyed a different view, informed in part through his business ambitions.... On the campaign trail, Trump has called for a new partnership with Moscow.... The relationship is setting off alarms in pro-Western capitals -- and in the U.S. foreign policy community." -- CW

Bianca Ocasio of Politico: "Donald Trump has spent the week stating his support for the LGBT community..., remarking that he is a better ally than Hillary Clinton, whom he has repeatedly attacked for accepting donations from governments hostile to LGBT rights on behalf of the Clinton Foundation.... But a photo posted to Twitter on Thursday night showed [Trump] with ... Robert Jeffress, a pastor from Dallas known for his anti-LGBT sentiment.... Trump retweeted the image on Friday. The ... pastor in February 2015 was quoted as saying the gay rights movement 'will pave the way for that future world dictator, the Antichrist, to persecute and martyr Christians without any repercussions whatsoever.'" CW: Hmm. Maybe the Antichrist is a'comin', after all, & Jeffries just posed for a picture with him.

Jonathan Chait: "Donald Trump appeared on the national political stage almost eight years ago. Only then he was called 'Sarah Palin.' ...The rise of Trump has given many Republicans...a different perspective on these very same questions. Trump's candidacy has given them the chance to debate the merits of an ignorant demagogue, rather than defend him reflexively." --safari

Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "Dozens of Republican convention delegates are hatching a new plan to block Donald Trump at this summer's party meetings, in what has become the most organized effort so far to stop the businessman from becoming the GOP nominee. The delegates are angered by Trump's recent comments on gun control, his racial attacks on a federal judge and his sinking poll numbers. They are convinced that Trump is an insufficiently conservative candidate and believe they will find enough like-minded Republicans within the next month to change party rules and allow delegates to vote for whomever they want, regardless of who won their state caucus or primary. -- Akhilleus (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

How the Japanese envision a President Trump (lots of imagination, but pretty scary) --safari

Senate Races

Ken Vogel of Politico: "Charles Koch, facing questions about his commitment to political spending, late last month donated $3 million to a super PAC spending heavily to protect the Republican Senate majority, according to a Federal Election Commission report set to be filed in the coming days.... Koch's donation marks his first significant check of the 2016 election cycle. It's especially notable because he has increasingly expressed frustrations with the political process, and with ... Donald Trump, in particular." -- CW

Marco, Marco, Marco, Back, Back, Back? Tal Kopan of CNN: "Florida Rep. David Jolly on Friday announced he will pull out of the Republican primary to replace Sen. Marco Rubio. Jolly instead will for reelection to his seat in Congress, citing 'unfinished business' in an email to supporters Friday afternoon. He said he had been convinced to run for Senate by insiders who told him redistricting made his reelection to the House too difficult, but decided he wanted to continue doing the job he has. The move, though, comes as Rubio has in recent days signaled he might accede to pressure to run for reelection to his seat." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

...Akhilleus: Unfinished business my ass. House Republicans haven't done anything in years. What's so important now?...

...Ed Kilgore: "It's becoming more and more likely that ... Marco Rubio will reverse his long-standing commitment to retire from the Senate -- you know, that chamber whose votes he so regularly missed while running for president -- this year...But Rubio's reelection is a much dicier propositionthan it would have probably been had he never run for president.... Maybe Rubio will make a comeback, but if he doesn't, one of the most promising political careers in recent history could run aground quickly." -safari

Beyond the Beltway

The Sunshine State. Arturo Garcia of RawStory: "Florida Assistant State Attorney Kenneth Lewis was suspended on Friday after insulting the city of Orlando on his Facebook page, WESH-TV reported. Lewis first posted the disparaging remarks on Sunday, hours after the mass shooting attack at the Pulse nightclub that left 49 people dead and 53 others injured. 'The entire city should be leveled. It is void of a single redeeming quality. It is a melting pot of 3rd world miscreants and ghetto thugs.'" --safari

Way Beyond the Beltway

Right Wing Extremism Around the World. BBC: "Police investigating the killing of MP Jo Cox have said they are prioritising inquiries into the suspect's possible links to right-wing extremism. Mrs Cox, 41, was shot and stabbed outside her constituency surgery in West Yorkshire on Thursday. A 52-year-old man has been arrested. The BBC understands Nazi regalia was recovered at suspect Tommy Mair's home. -- Akhilleus (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Dom Phillips of the Washington Post: "Just weeks before it stages the 2016 Olympic Games, the state government of Rio de Janeiro has declared a 'state of public calamity in financial administration' and warned that the situation is so dire it impedes the locale's ability to meet Games commitments. The Olympics start Aug. 5 with Brazil already facing an impeachment trial of suspended President Dilma Rousseff, a public health crisis over the Zika epidemic and a deepening recession." -- CW

Rebecca Ruiz of the New York Times: "Russia's track and field team has been barred from competing in this summer's Rio Games because of a far-reaching doping conspiracy, an extraordinary punishment without precedent in Olympics history. The global governing body for track and field, known as the I.A.A.F., announced the decision on Friday, ruling in a unanimous vote that Russia had not done enough to restore global confidence in the integrity of its athletes. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

     ... Akhilleus: The Russian doping scandal goes all the way to the top, meaning the government has been involved and is running the program, likely with full knowledge of Vladimir Putin. No wonder Trump loves this guy.

News Ledes

AP: "An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced six people, including two Al-Jazeera employees, to death for allegedly passing documents related to national security to Qatar and the Doha-based TV network during the rule of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi." -- CW

Washington Post: "Belgian authorities conducted a sweeping round of anti-terrorism raids late Friday and early Saturday, arresting 12 people in an investigation that prosecutors said required 'immediate intervention.'" -- CW